Maialino's Olive Oil Cake
Author Notes: Olive oil cake at its best has a crackling crust and an aromatic oil-rich middle, which, if it held any more moisture, would be pudding. Pulling this off should be easy—there aren't even egg whites to whip and fold, or butter to cream—but it isn't always. This one, however, is perfect, and will ruin you for all others. Recipe from Maialino Restaurant in New York City., where they also serve it at breakfast in muffin form, and they've been known to turn it into a birthday cake, layered with mascarpone buttercream. The recipe is pictured here with Michelle Polzine's Slow-Roasted Strawberries from the forthcoming Genius Desserts cookbook (Ten Speed Press, September 2018). —Genius Recipes
Makes: a 9-inch round cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 hrs
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2
cups (250g) all-purpose flour
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1 3/4
cups (350g) sugar
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1 1/2
teaspoons kosher salt
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1/2
teaspoon baking soda
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1/2
teaspoon baking powder
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1 1/3
cups (285g) extra-virgin olive oil
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1 1/4
cups (305g) whole milk
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3
large eggs
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1 1/2
tablespoons grated orange zest
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1/4
cup (60g) fresh orange juice
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1/4
cup (55g) Grand Marnier
- Heat the oven to 350° F. Oil, butter, or spray a 9-inch cake pan that is at least 2 inches deep with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. (If your cake pan is less than 2 inches deep, divide between 2 pans and start checking for doneness at 30 minutes.)
- In a bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder. In another bowl, whisk the olive oil, milk, eggs, orange zest and juice and Grand Marnier. Add the dry ingredients; whisk until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, until the top is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and let cool for 30 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edge of the pan, invert the cake onto the rack and let cool completely, 2 hours.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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Well, flipping it over after 30 minutes did not work out so well.
It broke apart. It is heavy than most cakes, and was still warm, so bad idea. I guess my spring form pan was heavy also.
You didn't need to flip it over. I used a springform pan, 9". It turned out awesome.
WOW, Excellent! I just made it. I used 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and cashew milk. Those were the only changes. The recipe is perfect on its own. I had to bake it for 1 1/2 hours, at 350. It is rich, moist, tastes like an expensive cake that you would get at an Italian restaurant. We had it without anything else on top or over it, it doesn't need it and would over power the orange flavor in my opinion. Thank you for the recipe.
fyi, the Mascarpone frosting is really fabulous, in no way overpowering - but the cake can easily stand on its own 😉😍.
Not having a cake tin, I baked mine in a 10' cast iron pan. Don't make the same mistake I did - I heated the pan to warm it and spread oil on the bottom. I forgot that I handn't placed it in the heated oven, so it sat on top of a stove for 10 minutes. I realized that I had probably ruined it, but i put it in the oven for the rest of the cooking time. Let's just say - after shaving off the bottom 1" from the cake - it's still DELISH!!! LOL. Some peeps shouldn't bake a lot. Like me. But I still managed to have an awesome dessert!!!
Made this last night - only topped it with a processed mix of dark chocolate and walnuts.... that was tasty.
However, hubby felt the orange flavor should have been stronger. Next time I'll use OJ concentrate instead of OJ.
The texture was almost like a stiff pudding, it was sooooo delightful!!!
I combined two recipes (Giada polenta and almond meal cake) in order to make it gluten-free but the batter was so very liquidy that I worried it would not set or rise. But, it did! Very delicious and moist. Easy, too. So, basically, just sub almond flour and polenta for the flour here and you are good to go.
I made this yesterday and we all loved it. It is a moist, dense and perfumed delight! I think that the key for success is not changing a thing in the recipe.
Agreed
I made this for a dinner party with the roasted strawberries and mascarpone whipped cream. Oh, my. Absolutely perfect. I took the advice of a commenter to whisk the eggs together with the olive oil before mixing in the other wet ingredients to emulsify the oil into the batter and it was perfect - moist, not oily. I used fresh Meyer lemon juice and homemade limoncello instead of the orange. So, so good.
Possibly the best and easiest olive oil cake i made in life. Thank you!
Hi, I made this yesterday, we love it!! I had made something similar before with limoncello and pistachios, but it wasn’t as moist. The only question I have is, does the whole batter fit into the 9” round mold? I was scared it would overflow and poured some of the batter into a 12 mini poundcake mold (4 came out) and cooked them for 18 min. The round one was ready in 40 min. Thanks!
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Hi Yolanda, glad you liked it! Was your cake pan 2 inches deep or more (see step 1)? That seems to be the benchmark for needing to pour some batter into another pan.
I make this with lemoncello, lemon juice/zest, and rosemary. It's wonderful! (if I do say so myself, lol)
Could I make this with lemon instead of orange? Would it be too sour ?
lemon would work too. i used lemoncello (lemon liqueur) since i don’t care for orange flavors. the third time i made the cake i added lavender flowers for visual interest. awesome cake!
Yes! I recently made this with Meyer lemons and the Grand Marnier and made cupcakes (I know) for a one year old’s birthday party. I made a Mascarpone/ cream cheese frosting and everyone freaked out. So good. Even the birthday boy could not be stopped from eating the whole thing. 😍
yes, i also frost with a mascarpone icing and it is to die for! will not make it without!
This is how I always make this recipe. For some reason, people are more apt to eat dessert in cupcake form. It's my family's favorite dessert. Fun but elegant!
The icing sounds good, can you share how you made it? thanks
hi lululand, replace the butter in a butter cream icing entirely or mostly. i like a litttle butter, then triple the amount of mascarpone, add vanilla, milk and powdered sugar. sorry i don’t measure; i go by look and consistency. but you can google recipes for a mascarpone icing or even cream cheese icing if you prefer. enjoy!
Good idea, thank you!
This has become my favorite cake of all time. It is soooo good.
Mary Henderson - you can use orange juice in place of the Grand Marnier and/or blood orange olive oil in place of the regular olive oil. : )
Thank you, can't wait to make it!
The cake sounds awesome. Is there something non-alcoholic I can use in place of the Grand Marnier?
The alcohol burns out during baking. The grand Marnier just adds a nice flavor to it.
I found that the miniature bottles available at liquor stores is a perfect 1/4 cup... just needed one of them.
I would use additional 1/4 c orange juice, and extra zest.
Wow I read each and every comments, and C&P so many. Will give this a try or two using several suggestions
I am 3999' and will use my domestic Convention GE oven to bake in a 10" spring form and would like to bake in reg size muffin pans. . Not sure of the time with that size muffin tins. Any suggestions?
Suggest normal/average timing for muffins. I found it needed a little longer than cupcakes. I watched the browning, and touch for resistance and it bounced back - I pulled them at that point.
Has anyone tried this in a bunht pan? I am thinking that would get the center baked more evenly.
Yes it will turn out just fine. My first attempt was in a bundt pan. It was beautiful.
I've been wanting to try this recipe. One question, is it ok to use bottled grated orange zest, instead of fresh?
Yes you can. I used bottled zest and my baker chef sis said it was delish.
Oh my I must try this cake.... I only have port and praline liqueur in the house so I’m going to have to choose one over the other .....choices, choices
I'd love to know what you use praline liqueur for. I have a bottle of it, not sure how to use it up. thanks.
Well, I’ve only added it to coffee so far, but imagine it works for all recipes calling for liqueur....but one should adjust for the flavor profile....like pecan or vanilla extract instead of citrus, etc.
Can you use almond milk in place of the whole milk?
I imagine that it would work fine, the cake may be slightly lighter in color when done due to lower protein content.
This is such a great recipe on its own and as a base with some tweaking. It's simple and consistent. Both the texture and taste are perfect. I've added citrus zest and herbes de provençe to the cake and served it with lavender whipped cream. I've also put rosemary in the batter and topped the cake with toasted pine nuts, rosemary sprigs, and granulated sugar as a nod to Nancy Silverton's recipe in Mozza at Home. It's an incredible combination. Next I'd like to try using thyme and lemon juice in the recipe - we'll see how that turns out!
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